Poster requirements for Ontario employers

The Ontario Ministry of Labour recently released a new version of the Employment Standards Poster but it won’t be enough to simply comply – says one labour lawyer – organizations will have to distribute and display it too.

“Almost every employer in Ontario is required by law to immediately post a hardcopy of version 6.0 in English in a conspicuous place in the workplace,” says Talia Bregman, suggesting a communal kitchen as the ideal location.

“If the majority language of an employer's workplace is not English and the Ministry has published a version of the poster in that majority language, an employer is also required to post a hardcopy of the applicable translation next to the English version,” she added.

And that’s not all – thanks to legislative changes coming into force on May 20, Ontario employers must also provide a hardcopy or electronic copy to all current employees by June 19, 2015. Any new employee hired after the latter date must also receive a copy within their first 30 days.

“One strategy to ensure compliance with this last requirement would be to include the poster as part of any hiring package,” suggests the Bennett Jones lawyer.